put the action in your action plans: using assessment to drive collaborative, meaningful change at...

8/13/2019 Put the Action in Your Action Plans: Using Assessment to Drive Collaborative, Meaningful Change at Your College

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Put the Action in Your Action Plans:

Using Assessment to DriveCollaborative, Meaningful Change at Your

College


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The Old English/ESL Sequence


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Spring 2011: Common Portfolio

Assessment


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Main Features

All Reading & Comp classes

Pieces scored together:

Short (3-5pp) research paper using Academically

Acceptable Sources, including databases

2 hour in-class essay: summary/response to a

short, college-level essay or excerpt

Dead Week Scoring sessions with extensive

norming


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Scoring

Common, analytic rubric

Students receive feedback on 10 skill areas

Sliding-scale course grade, some choice Possible for students in pre-1A courses to earn

Competency-Based English 1A credit


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Assessment Action through the

Teaching and Learning Center:

Focused Inquiry Groups

Action Plan Projects

Resources and Effective Practices Sharing

Peer Observation Pool


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First Portfolio Assessment Results


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Noteworthy, Unexpected Results of First

Portfolio Assessment (Spring 2011)

90% of students in 2-below transfer would

have earned a C in 1-below transfer; 40%

would have earned an A or B.

English 201 students outperformed English

1A students in reading

Low scores in research techniques,

including English 1A!


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Changing the Writing Program:

First Steps

Change curriculum for English 1A:

scaffolded assignments in reading

two short research papers instead of one long one

Develop experimental class to encourage

students placing 2 levels below transfer to

move directly into English 1A; embed

additional support


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Noteworthy Results a Year Later

(Spring 2012)

Students in accelerated class significantly

outperformed students in traditional 2-

below transfer class, AND they also

outperformed 1-below transfer class

students in most skills

In English 1A, scores in reading and research

techniques increased significantly.


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The New English Program Structure

(for Fall 2013)

English204A

English204B

English1A


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The English Program

Course Curricula

English 1A:

writing persuasive, college-level essays

at least two research papers

reading of college-level essays, 2+ books

English 204A: same curriculum as English 1A,

4 lecture hours/week, but also

3 hours of lab/week

trained instructional assistants


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% of students scoring Acceptable-Excellent on the English/ESL

Common Portfolio Assessment Spring 11 vs. Spring 13


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ENGL 1A (transfer-level)

spring 11 vs. spring 13


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top level of ESL (1-below transfer)

spring 11 vs. spring 13


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Our Interventions: process

Identify specific reasons for SLO findings:

Faculty inquiry groups

Student surveys

Faculty and student focus groups

Secondary research

Re-examine findings every semester with common assessment

(all Composition classes) to provide direction for changes

Developed group of representative faculty leaders


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Our Interventions: program level

Changing the program curriculum

Changing the program sequencing

Adding imbedded tutoring

Developing common syllabus elements and sequencing

Adding assignments to give students more practice in key areas


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Our Interventions: course level

Changing the course curriculum

Developing common syllabus elements and sequencing

Developing common materials to address SLOs

Adding assignments to give students more practice in key areas

Creating a website for teachers to share materials, such as

handouts and lesson plans


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Other Possible Interventions

Changing textbooks

Changing delivery modes

Changing types of assignments and/orlanguage of prompts

Linked classes, learning communities,

etc.


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What makes a good action plan?

Not simply more of what teachers are already

doing

In real life:

Process of developing action plan needs buy-in

from critical mass of faculty, decisions not top-

down

Decisions informed by data: secondary researchon effective practices, focused inquiry, direct

student input


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Your Turn part 1:

A Possible Finding

The Mathematics Program has assessed all

of the courses in the Math Department and

found that, across all courses and all levels,

students have more difficulty with wordproblems than with anything else.

What should we do?


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Identify reasons for finding

Write

Develop collaborative list (small group)

Make common list (all) Rank items


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Identify possible action plans

Write

Develop collaborative list (small group)

Make common list (all) Rank items


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Your Turn part 2:

a finding at your institution

put the action in your action plans: using assessment to drive collaborative, meaningful change at...

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